


Starlit Nights and other Casualties

by Hotalando



Category: One Piece
Genre: Childhood, Domestic Fluff, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Multi, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-11
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2017-12-23 04:21:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/921929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hotalando/pseuds/Hotalando
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“When we’re grown-up’s, I want to keep on watching the stars like this with you.”<br/>A collection of short fics involving Zoro and Sanji about anything possible. AU/Non-AU. From child!ZoSan to grown-up's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wishes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey ho!  
> This is planned to be a collection of ideas that are too small and weak to be a full-grown fanfic but too precious to forget. I might include other pairings but they'll never be more than hints, as well as no explicit sex scenes.  
> If you have any picture in your mind you want to read about, feel free to message me a prompt!
> 
> Happy reading!

At the end of the day, and after a long passionate pillow fight, they were lying on the little balcony of Sanji’s home, snuggled up against each other on their blankets and pillows. It was supposed to be a starlit night according to the weather forecast and so they wanted to enjoy the view of beautifully shining stars. Both of them had an obsession with the nightly sky, they would lay there occasionally on the very same balcony and point out different constellations to each other. Usually Sanji would come up with some great story about the Greeks and their theories about some constellations and Zoro always loved to listen to his story-telling, be it facts he had read in a book or a fairy tale he had been told. Zoro mostly loved it because his friend was for once not mocking him, therefore no reason for him to mock back and no reason for Sanji to kick him and eventually no reason for them both to fight. They would just lay there, Sanji’s head on Zoro’s shoulder, and stare up into the beautiful sky. 

The mop of blonde hair shifted into his vision quickly before repositioning on Zoro’s chest, an arm was draped over his belly, making warmth spread through his body from that spot. His best friend’s voice was clear as the night sky and soft as the blanket underneath them as he spoke, “When we’re grown-up’s, I want to keep on watching the stars like this with you.”


	2. Tiny Feet Set A Different Pace

“Zoro, you think I’ve changed?”

The sleepy voice of the blond man lying at his side crashed his last hopes of falling asleep. Usually sounding masculine and strong, it was now clearly audible how tired and exhausted he seemed of his own train of thoughts. He’d been this strange since dinner, when they had had a small celebration with their friends for their youngest mate finishing college. Since then, the other man seemed distracted, absentminded and bothered by something he couldn’t stop torturing his mind with. 

“Sure, everybody does.” He tried to sound casual, to make obvious how it didn’t bother him at all. The older man shifted and propped himself up on his elbow, the other arm lazily lying on his toned chest as he looked down at him wearing an expression of displeasure that even the dimly lit room couldn’t hide. “Why does it matter?”

“Don’t you miss my old me?” His voice was breaking at the edges, barely hiding the sad feelings that were gathering inside. “Don’t you miss the fighting? How we used to get at each other’s throats all the time?” 

What a delicate question, and Zoro was in need of a very good and thoughtful answer. Rubbing his temple, he thought for a moment, remembered their former relationship before they had been a couple, before their duo had become a trio. He wrapped his arm tighter around his lover’s waist and smiled up at him, “I don’t. I do enjoy remembering all that and I liked you back then but I’m completely happy with what we are now.”

Nodding, the blond settle back into the comfort of his lover’s arms, not completely satisfied but he figured he had to accept that kind of answer. “Nami said that I’ve changed. She tried to force me into a suit but I told her off and-”

Zoro chuckled, “You told your beloved Nami-darling off? Yeah, you have definitely changed!”

After giving the green-haired man a healthy shove, he continued, “She said she hasn’t seen me wearing any in awhile and if I didn’t miss them.”

“Well, do you?”

“I do… but I don’t feel the need for them currently. With Kyouko being just a baby still, I think it’s better I don’t wear them and I’m not even leaving the house that often anymore that wouldn’t make the effort worth it.” He gasped and looked at his lover again, “Do you think that’s bad?”

“No, that’s how I think about it too. I’ve never worried about that because I’m sure that you’d be back wearing suits all the time and smoking shit all day long as soon as the little girl can walk on her own tiny feet.” 

Sanji chuckled, “Her tiny feet… they’re really so tiny.” Nuzzling his face into his boyfriend’s neck, he imagined their little daughter walking on her own, clumsily balancing her weight on her small feet. As much as it made him smile, that was as much as the prospect of her growing up saddened him. Soon enough she wouldn’t rely on him anymore, she wouldn’t need him anymore as much as he needed her. The image of her turning her back on him one day made his heart sting with agony, he felt it breaking at the thought and clung to his lover even more. 

Sighing at the sudden change of mood, Zoro planted a soft kiss to the other man’s soft hair and rubbed his back gently. The past months had taught him how to act in these moments, though there was never a guarantee his methods would work their magic in particular situations. During the pregnancy months of their surrogate mother, the blond cook had adapted most of her behavior, especially the mood swings, the food cravings and had even grown a little bump. At first, it had worried him a lot, that maybe the sous-chef was obsessing over the baby too much (which in all honesty, he did) but Chopper had assured them that it was quite common for the fathers to live through their own version of pregnancy. A kind of devotion, so to say, that Zoro hoped was only ever directed towards their daughter and not the woman having brought her into this world.

Though, some of the cook’s behavior was still unusual and not like their cook at all. Sometimes he would worry too much about Kyouko, sometimes he would spend too much time sitting at her crib just watching her, disregarding of his other duties. On some days it felt as if this family only consisted of him and her, leaving Zoro as just someone to bring in some money. Even though, technically, it was his baby. Releasing another sigh, he pushed those thoughts out of his head and concentrated back on his lover who was holding onto him as if he would fall into a deep hole without his support.

It would take some time for them to be back to normal, for their lives to fall back into their usual routine, as far as that would be possible with a child as their center of attention. But Zoro was sure, they would manage to find their own balance with the little extra weight.


	3. Strange Behavior

It wasn't exactly hard to tell when they had sex. 

In fact, it was harder to tell when they had begun to notice. Not that anyone could pinpoint a date but it must have started shortly after their adventures on Enies Lobby. They hadn't talked about it, exchanged their thoughts on it or anything, but when it had happened, they all had had the same revelation. 

So, it happened, that one day while sailing the seas of the New World, they had to pass down this knowledge onto Brook. Who due to unexpected circumstances had stayed unaware of the little not-so-secret lovestory on the Sunny up until now. 

They hadn't thought about it since the last time (the night before they had reached the Thriller Bark), yet when the first change in behavior struck their attention, they had all been wondering why it had taken them so long.

As they told Brook, who had been quite curious about the meaning of Nami's words from earlier ("It's happening again!"), it wasn't hard to tell when they had had sex again. 

No, it wasn't the noise. Though you'd guess, with their cook's temper and tendency to burst your eardrums.

They didn't leave the places unclean (not in the obvious way), or didn't leave behind any sex related objects.

"No," said Usopp, leaning closer to Brook for dramatic effect, "It's their behavior." 

A quiet chuckle sounded from the spot at the table their archeologist sat, Brook asked, "Their behavior?"

"Just watch 'em. It's creepy." 

So it happens that he's now sitting there on deck with his tea, somewhere caught between terror and awe, watching their cook and firstmate, well, interact. 

A short distance away, not too much hidden from sight, Zoro nuzzles his face into his cook's chest as a hand belonging to the same body caresses his scalp. They settled into the hammock on deck to cuddle after their first sex in the New World, enjoying the aftermath of lovemaking for as long as it’d last.


	4. Stray

“Aren’t you worried Sanji might… stray?” 

Zoro looks up from his fries into his friend’s face, the unusually long nose poking into his personal space. They were sitting outside in front of the food booths, just a short break before they’d head back into the hall for the next show. Luffy’d won a trip to… whatever that nerd was into convention for his friends and himself through a radio show and decided they’d all go together. 

That was him, Luffy, Usopp, Sanji and for reasons Zoro wasn’t thrilled to learn, Nami. It was a weekend event with a stay in a mediocre hostel (Luffy’s pick, nobody asked why), a three hour car drive from home. Though there were a thousand ideas Zoro could come up with why he should’ve stayed home, he would be lying to say that he wasn’t enjoying it a bit. Alright, a tad bit too much. 

And that led back to Usopp’s question. 

“Yes, Zoro, aren’t you worried your boyfriend could find a better match?” Nami’s words hit their goal with full force but Zoro followed her gaze nonetheless. His boyfriend had left to get some drinks for them and was now standing in the queue by the nearest booth. 

He could guess where their questions came from. Sanji used to flirt with any female human being that was only slightly his age (or not too ugly), no matter if they wanted or not. Before they’d gotten together, it had bothered Zoro a lot, more the fact that being flirted at annoyed Nami and an annoyed Nami meant trouble. After, or rather during their first date, it had freaked him out, up to the point where they had their first fight as couple and though Zoro hated to remember, he couldn’t deny that the yelling and blaming did solve their problem. 

A smile curled the corners of his lips up and his eyes settled on Sanji who’s more focused on the women around him than the queue getting shorter. The one visible brow furrowed, the blond watched carefully with his main focus on the curves of each woman. No one in their group of friends was surprised by that sight, not even after they’d found out about him and Sanji, but what they were seeing was more than they expected.

When a brunette passed by their table and glanced into Zoro’s direction, Sanji’s attention turned from the queue towards the young woman. Before she could do anything (so far as she ever wanted to), Sanji stood by the table next to Zoro and rested his hand possessively on his shoulder. A glare sent to the brunette, signalizing her ‘Don’t even look, this man is mine’. 

Once she was gone, Sanji retreated to the by now much longer queue, again watching the women passing by. “Well,” Zoro finally answered, a large grin spreading over his face, “He’s busier keeping potential matches away from **me** than looking for his own.”


	5. Don’t stop catching me when I fall

“And there’s really something messed up with his legs? Is there nothing you can do?”   
Silence. A glass put down on wood.   
“No, not really. His legs are fine, the injuries have healed already and with all the physiotherapeutic treatments he has been getting the last few weeks, he should be able to walk again.”  
“But he’s not, Chopper! He just sits there in his bed all day long… and that smile on his face, as if he was about to die!”  
“Is there really nothing that can be done, Chopper?”   
Sigh. Tension stretched to its limits.  
“It’s in his head. There’s something that subconsciously bothers him so much that his legs are paralyzed. It’s a result of stress, he has…”

The door falls shut, closing out the tormenting voices. Boots scrape over old oaken floor, being removed before their owner steps on the soft carpet that serves as border of the sleeping area. In the center is the bed, matching the surrounding furniture with all the natural, rough wood surfaces and the sea blue tones. They have been getting ahead of themselves, getting comfortable and all. When it had been time to leave the hospital, it seemed logical to move in with Robin and Franky. Their house is big, Chopper is living with them too, and originally they only planned to stay for a month. Maybe six weeks, tops.   
No one thought that things could get more complicated. Honestly, neither did he. Get the cook out of hospital, stay with him till he’s back on his feet again, move out. No big deal. 

The reason for all their worries is currently sitting on the long edge of the bed, awaiting, with that typical smile on his lips. It’s not that creepy, Usopp tends to exaggerate. Or maybe, and he prefers that idea, the cook’s smile changes in his presence. 

“Hey, I thought we could try walking again, what’d ya think?” Brushing a hand through his short green hair, he waits for the usual excuse from the blond. ...Except, there is none.   
“Yes,” he smiles and shifts on the bed, setting the soles of his feet parallel to the floor.   
A good sign? Maybe he would manage to reach the door today? That would be eight more steps than yesterday, and fifteen steps more than the day before that, when they started. Zoro doesn’t want to pressure him, yet he can’t wait to celebrate another success. They are few and small steps but they’re a beginning after all!

“Okay, then let’s start.” Not able to suppress a smile, he steps in front of the sitting cook and reaches his arms out as if to hug the other man, to offer him some support and catch him if he falls.   
Slowly, Sanji props himself up, still as insecure and weak as a newborn deer, but he manages to straighten up in one move. His hands rest on Zoro’s arms at first, he breathes in and out, taking his moment to focus. Once he’s feeling ready, he nods.   
Zoro takes a short step backwards, the arms still at Sanji’s sides to provide some sort of security. The blond’s hands slip from his arms into his hands, they hold each other for a second, flashing a quick smile. They’re used to these touches, since the fateful accident they were spending almost every second of the day together, even sharing a bed. Pride, principles, shame, anything that would’ve prevented them from this intimacy were shattered the night that car hit Sanji. 

Since then, everything has changed. Zoro didn’t hesitate to quit his job, he couldn’t have focused on anything else but the cook’s recovery anyway, so why not committing himself to it? Something clicked that night, something that made him stay at the side of his bed for two weeks, take him to the bathroom, wash him, and even be there whenever his new life situation took its toll on him.   
And even after the first disappointment, when Chopper announced that Sanji could learn to walk again and even after three weeks of practicing with walkers, the cook was still unable to get out of his room without stumbling and eventually falling. When all of that happened again and again, yes, even after two months of trying and failing, Zoro stayed by his side, ready to help whenever it was needed. 

So whenever now he sees his favorite cook taking the first step, solemnly relying on his legs, it feels as if the sun was suddenly shining brighter. And probably it does for the both of them, if judged by the soft smile lingering in the corners of the cook’s lips.   
The first step done, Sanji pauses again, breath in, breath out. Second step done, short but well placed. No pause, the third step follows right after, the fourth, the fifth, sixth, seve- 

Sanji misjudged his balance, one knee giving in and twisting the other leg’s ankle. Quickly Zoro catches him before he could seriously injure himself and holds him close, the panic rising inside the other man is emitting from his tensed body. Hands clutch fabric, gripping onto his savior as if for survival. 

“I told you to take it easy. Take breaks between the steps, there’s no point in rushing yourself,” Zoro speaks, one arm tightly wrapped around his friend, the other hand brushing through the thick blond hair. He feels Sanji nodding slightly, lets him nuzzle his face into the crook of his neck and plants a small kiss on his hair. They stay like this for a while until Sanji’s breathing is calmer. “Let’s get you back to bed-”

“No.” Sanji looks up and aligns their faces in the process, “Can we sit on the floor? Right here? I’ve been in bed all day…”   
“Eh, sure,” Zoro blinks in confusion but doesn’t question further. They settle down on the carpet facing each other, Sanji shifts closer to half sit on Zoro’s lap.   
His hand reaches up to play with the green hair, the color as vibrant as the day they met. “You need to get a haircut,” he points out and pulls a strand down carefully to measure how much of the face it would cover if the other man wouldn’t style it up.   
“Well you see me every day,” Zoro grins and places his hands on Sanji’s tailbone, gently stroking him through his shirt. “Besides, there’re more important things now than my hair. I can still see everything.”  
A frown appears on the blond’s features, he drops his hand and his look as well. “I’m sorry… I’m an inconvenience to you all.”   
“No! Well… your situation has a huge influence on our lives but the accident wasn’t your fault and no one mi-”  
“No one minds to support me the best they can. I know that, you keep saying that, Zoro. But it doesn’t really change anything for me. I’ve been trying to walk for months now and I still need to call for help when I need to take a piss! I haven’t been to work for that long, I haven’t cooked anything for WEEKS, we had to postpone our sailing trip- and how cruel is that? Luffy’s been waiting for that trip since his birthday and I don’t have to remind you that it’s May 5th in three weeks again!”   
The cook started gesticulating wildly during his rant, his breathing became uncontrolled again and the desperation visible in his eyes.   
Carefully Zoro takes his hands in his own to make him sit still. “The accident wasn’t your fault. Chopper told us in the beginning that your recovery would take a while, we all are okay with that. Especially Luffy. He wouldn’t go on that trip without you anyway.”  
“See, that’s the problem! I keep holding you back! I try and try but I keep on failing! I’m destroying everything because I’m so weak! I feel useless, Zoro.” Sanji’s voice breaks at the end, his perfect facade of contentment falling apart again. 

A heavy sigh left Zoro’s lips, he doesn’t know what to say anymore. They’ve been through this almost every day, and Sanji can predict what Zoro would say. What else can he say, what can he do? He’s been comforting Sanji for the last weeks with no avail, no change in the blond’s mood. And if Chopper was right, how could they possibly solve this? This is a downward spiral, with no way out.   
“If being useless is what’s bothering you, then you should practice walking more. You’re making progress, Sanji, you just need to take things slow and don’t pressure yourself then everything will be fine. I know it,” Zoro tries to reassure him, brushing a few blond strands out of his face to look into both eyes. “The feeling’ll stop then.”   
“And then? I have so much work to do, it’s getting worse with every day I fail to walk. It feels like with every wrong step,everything in front of me looks dimmer. I’ve been missing out on my classes as well, I have to redo this semester and how am I going to pay for an extra semester? I’ll have to get a second job but then we can’t go on that trip that Luffy’s waiting for and-,” Sanji cuts himself off and lets himself fall against Zoro. He shifts even closer, wraps his arms around Zoro’s middle and shuts his eyes.   
Breathing in Zoro’s scent, feeling his warmth and hearing his voice - in the last few months all of that has calmed Sanji down better than anything else. They have grown closer, dropped all physical and even emotional boundaries and become something that Sanji never wants to miss. But that will happen, he’s certain, once he was fully recovered, there was no reason for Zoro to stay anymore, was there? 

“As much as I want to walk again, as much I want to keep on sitting here with you.” One of his hands trails down Zoro’s arm, caressing the biceps through the shirt, partially out of jealousy, partially out of admiration. He misses sparing with Zoro, he misses his own trained body. “I miss going out and I miss training but… I’m scared of losing this. Someone who takes care of me. Who catches me when I fall. When I push myself too far.”

“Wait.” Zoro pushes Sanji off himself gently to look him in the eyes. “You think I’d leave you then? Just because you can walk?”   
“Yes… I mean what else are you here for than taking ca-mpf.” Chapped lips press against Sanji’s own, successfully muting and startling him. It takes a second until he catches on and returns the kiss with a little more pressure. He tangles his hands into oddly soft green hair, leans his whole body, his whole being into the embrace. 

The kiss leaves them breathless for a moment, their lips keep on brushing together occasionally while they try to catch their breaths. Pale long hands cup the sides of a tanned and smiling face, strong muscled arms embrace a small waist.   
“Stupid. That’s what you are. Thinking I would drop you like some broken toy,” Zoro chuckles against his friend’s lips.   
“Well we’ve never been like this before the accident, so I thought we’d turn back to that again. And I thought you’d just taken care of me because that’s what you do, you watched over Usopp too after he’d broken his arm… You’ve never been like this to me before.”  
“Because I’ve been an idiot, that’s all. But I scratched the pitch and now you’re not getting rid of me ever,” Zoro smirks and earns himself another kiss. 

Maybe they will reach the door tomorrow.


End file.
